Number of U.S. Births Increased in Second Half of 2021

TUESDAY, July 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The number of births across the United States increased during the second six months of 2021, according to a July Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Brady E. Hamilton, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues present provisional 2021 data and final data from 2019 and 2020 on changes in the number of U.S. births by race and Hispanic origin of the mother. Data were based on all birth certificates registered to U.S. residents in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The researchers found that from 2020 to 2021, there was a decrease in the number of births for January and February, followed by an increase for April and for each month from June through December, resulting in a 2 percent decrease in the number of births for the first six months followed by an increase of 4 percent for the second six months of 2021. For non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic women, the number of births increased 3 to 6 percent in the second half of 2021, while no significant changes were seen for women in other race and Hispanic origin groups; in the first half of 2021, nearly all groups had declines of 2 to 8 percent. Births increased for 39 states in the second six months of 2021, did not change significantly in nine states and the District of Columbia, and decreased in two states.

"Ongoing evaluation of trends in births by month will monitor whether the changes observed for the second six months of 2021 will continue into the next year," the authors write.

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